Range·22 products

Bitters

Bitters at Bouchon covers both cocktail-use aromatic bitters and bitter-style aperitif and digestif liqueurs the distinction being more about use occasion than regulatory category. The common thread is botanical complexity built around bitter principles: gentian, cinchona bark, wormwood, and regional herbs and spices form the base of most expressions. As a class, bitters are the most intensely flavoured spirits in the catalogue and the ones where smallest volumes have the largest impact on flavour.

Massenez (Alsace) leads the Bouchon bitters range with an extensive lineup of aromatic bitters and digestif liqueurs drawing on the Alsatian fruit and herb distillation tradition. Maidenii (Macedon Ranges, Victoria) produces Australian vermouth and aperitif bitters with locally-foraged botanicals. Dolin (Chambery, Savoie) primarily known for their Chambery vermouth also produces bitters alongside the vermouth range.

Cocktails

25 cocktails — hover for the recipe

Build

45 ml Dolin Bitter
30 ml Dolin Blanc Vermouth
75 ml Soda water
Garnish: orange wheel, olive
Method

Fill a large wine glass with ice. Add the Dolin Bitter and Dolin Blanc. Top with chilled soda water and stir once, gently. Garnish with an orange wheel and a single green olive on a pick — the Savoie answer to Aperol Spritz.

Bitter Spritz (Chambéry Style)
Build

30 ml Dry gin
30 ml Dolin Bitter
30 ml Dolin Rouge Vermouth
Garnish: orange peel
Method

Stir all three with ice in a mixing glass for 25 seconds. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Express a wide strip of orange peel over the surface; drop it in. Same architecture as a classic Negroni — but the Chambéry house build, lighter and floral where Campari is sharp.

Chambéry Negroni
Build

50 ml Dolin Bitter
10 ml Fresh lemon juice
Soda water to top (about 100 ml)
Garnish: lemon wheel
Method

Build over ice in a highball glass: Dolin Bitter, then lemon juice. Top with chilled soda water and stir gently once. Garnish with a lemon wheel. Lower-ABV, brighter than a Campari soda — a long, refreshing Savoie aperitivo.

Chambérysien
Build

30 ml Dry gin
30 ml Dolin Bitter
30 ml Dolin Blanc Vermouth
Garnish: lemon peel, green olive
Method

Stir all three with ice in a mixing glass for 25 seconds. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Express a lemon peel over the surface and discard. Drop a single green olive into the glass on a pick. Visually pale, structurally a Negroni — bracing and aromatic.

Negroni Bianco
Build

30 ml Rye whisky
30 ml Dolin Dry Vermouth
30 ml Dolin Bitter
Garnish: lemon peel
Method

Stir all three equal parts with ice in a mixing glass for 25 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe. Express a strip of lemon peel over the top; discard. The Chambéry house's version of the Old Pal — drier, more austere than the Italian build.

Old Pal (Chambéry)
Build

45 ml Dolin Bitter
30 ml Dolin Rouge Vermouth
75 ml Prosecco or Crémant
30 ml Soda water
Garnish: orange wheel
Method

Fill a large wine glass with ice. Add the Dolin Bitter and Dolin Rouge. Top with chilled prosecco and a splash of soda; stir once, gently. Garnish with a large orange wheel — the deeper, redder Chambéry cousin of the classic Spritz.

Spritz Rosso (Chambéry)
Don Cynar
Mexitalian
Build

30 ml Dry gin
15 ml Williams Pear eau-de-vie
30 ml Italian bitter (Dolin Bitter)
30 ml Sweet vermouth
Garnish: thin pear slice, orange peel
Method

Stir all four with ice in a mixing glass for 25 seconds. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Lay a thin pear slice on the surface and express an orange peel over the top. The pear eau-de-vie lifts the Negroni's heaviness — drier and more aromatic.

Williams Pear Negroni
Abdicate
Ain't No Green Juice
Build

30ml Plata Blanco Tequila
20ml Nardini Rabarbaro
10ml Amaro Montenegro
30ml Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino
2 drops Habanero Tincture
1 dash Bittermans Orange Citrate
Method

Garnish: Rhubarb Ribbon and Orange Peel Combine all in a mixing glass, fill two thirds with ice, stir well for 40 seconds, double strain into a tumbler over a cube of clear ice.

Amor Y Rabarbaro
Baby Dragroni
Bird of Prey
Blackberry Negroni
Blood Orange Sloe-Groni
BouleNegroni
Boulevard Frappé
Breakfast Saké Negroni
Britney Bitch
Campfire Negroni
Cold Brew Americano
Concord Negroni Flip
Death By Alexander
Desert Summer